Shoe form



June 19, 1934 w. J. DE WlTT SHOE FORM Filed Dec. 16, 1932 Patented June 19, 1934 UNITED STATES 1,963,837 SHOE Form William J. De

Shoe tion of New York- Application neihbr is, 1932,

4 Claims.

, This invention relates to an improvement in a shoe form and has, as its primaryobject, the

form which comprises a toe portion the side walls of which are connected by a movable cross brace adapted theside walls laterally to expand or contract the toe portion, means for normally acting upon the cross brace to move the side walls laterally in one direction and a rearwardly extending thrust bar for causing the cross brace to move the side walls in another direction.

A further object of this invention is to connect said normally acting means to the forward end of the toe portion whereby a tendency of such forward end to rise is yieldably resisted such resistance being increased when the side walls are moved laterally in one direction.

Other objects will appear from a consideration of the following description and of the drawing which forms a part thereof and in which Fig. 1 is a top plan View with parts broken away of a shoe form illustrating one embodiment of the invention;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged detail view taken along the line 2-2 in Fig. 1; and

The shoe form shown in the drawing comprises a toe portion 10 having ball flanges 11 connecte by a cross brace. The toe portion is of celluloid or other resilient material and the side walls are laterally movable to expand or contract the toe portion. is lateral movement is imparted to the side walls by the cross brace which is normally held in one position by a coil spring 12 and is movable out of that position by a rearwardly extending thrust bar 13. As here shown the spring 12 holds the cross brace in that position in which it expands the toe portion. The thrust bar 13 may be long enough so that it will bear against the heel counter as shown in my Patent No. 1,847,296 granted March 1, may be short as shown in my Patent No. 1,856,750 granted May 3, 1932.

The illustrated embodiments differ in the construction of the cross brace in the location of the spring 12 and in the connection of the cross brace and thrust bar 13.

In the embodiment shown in Figs, 1 and 2 the cross brace comprises a pair of bars 15 each pivoted at one end to a flange 11 and having a slidable connection at the other end with the other flange. This connection of each bar consists of a button 16 fixed at the end of the bar and movable in an arcuate slot 1'7 in the flange. The

Witt, Auburn, Form 00. Inc, Auburn,

24 on the strip :20 is connected by a N. Y., assign); to N. Y., a corpora- Serial No. 641,662

thrust bar 13 is provided near its forward end with a loop 18, which surrounds both barsl5 and the spring 12 is attached at one end to the end of the thrust bar and at the otherend to the tip of the toe portion.

In the embodiment shown in Fig.3 the cross brace comprises a strip 20, pivoted at one end to one flange 11 by a button 21 and provided at the other end with a button 22 movable in an arcuate A third button wire torthe buttons 21 and 22 and to the button 24 is secured the forward end of the thrust bar 13. The spring 12 is attached at one end to the button 22 and at the other end to the flange 11 near the tip of the toe portion.

When the shoe form is to be inserted into or withdrawn from a shoe the toe portion 10 is contracted by retracting the thrust bar 13 and thus moving the cross brace against the tension of the spring 12 as shown in dotted lines in Figs. 1 and 3. As the shoe form is inserted in the shoe the thrust bar is advanced and coacts with the ex and the toe portion and thus plump it would be by the toe of a wearer. The spring being attached at or adjacent the tip of the toe portion acts to hold the tip down and prevent its rising from the insole of the shoe. Moreover since this attachment provides a third point at which pressure is applied when the shoe form is withdrawn, the removal of the form is facilitated and any tendency of the to stick or bind at its tip is counteracted. Force is thus exerted both at the sides and at or adjacent the tip of the toe portion.

While certain embodiments of this invention have been shown and described I am not limited thereto since other embodiments may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the following claims. 9

I claim: 7

1. A shoe form comprising a flanged toe porcross brace secured to the side flanges of the toe portion at opposite sides thereof, said cross contract the toe portion laterally and consisting of two crossed bars each pivotally'secured at and slidably movable slot 23 in the other flangellh relative to including a loop which surrounds both bars, and 5 a spring secured at one end to said thrust bar and at the other end to the toe portion, said thrust bar acting to move said bars and cause them to expand or contract the toe portion, and said spring assisting the action of the thrust bar the action of the thrust bar to move the bars in on its pivot to expand or contract said toe porthe other direction by exerting force upon the tion and a spring one end of which is attached toe portion. to the slidably movable end of the strip and the exerting force upon the toe portion. a spring one end of which is attached to the 3. A shoe form comprising a flanged toe porslidably movable end of the strip and the other tion including a cross brace secured to the side' end of which is attached to the toe portion adflanges of the toe portion at opposite sides therejacent the tip thereof, said spring assisting the 19( a thrust bar secured to the strip midway of its WILLIAM J. DE WITT. 105 

